13 April 2012

I'm off to Leicester today to see the exhibition 'Maggie Scott: Negotiations' - it's the last in the series organised by the shape of things, for which I've been lucky enough to have designed all the catalogues. It promises to be very thought provoking, and a very fitting conclusion to a project which has beaten down the path to a fuller understanding of contemporary British cultural identity and artistic expression.

You can read an article about Maggie's exhibition in The Voice. And I urge you to take the time to do that.

And if perhaps you're interested in my contribution, you can see Maggie's catalogue and the rest in the series just here on my Issuu link (unless you're looking at this on an iPhone or iPad, that is).

22 February 2012

It's about time I updated you with what I've been up to recently. And top of the list at the moment is my continuing work on designing for the shape of things, and the catalogue that I've just completed for Chien-Wei Chang's exhibition, Don't Look Back! I Told You So. It's on now until 25 March at Leicester's New Walk Museum & Art Gallery.

If you're not familiar with Chien-Wei's work, then you might recall the image on the cover of the current issue of Crafts Magazine. Chien-Wei's work is wonderful and the exhibition is both beautiful and thought provoking. If you can get yourself to Leicester, then you should make every effort to go and see it. Because you'll be missing a real treat if you don't. And if you want a sneak preview of the catalogue, you'll find it over on my Issuu link.

13 September 2010

Call it a dose of man flu if you want, and you may well be right, but that's why it went very quiet here last week. Now I'm not asking for any retrospective sympathy, but suffice it to say that I went a whole seven days without a single cup of espresso. Believe me when I say that that's serious.

But enough about me, for there's been lots of stuff going on while I've been away, so it's going to take a little time to catch up. First of all though, I had to miss out on the private view for the latest exhibition in the shape of things series. This one is a collective and includes all of the artists who feature in the series. On now until the 6th November in sunny Notting Hill, at the flow gallery (for you fellow designers out there, it's just a few steps up the road from Pentagram). So make sure you pop along - you won't be disappointed.

And make certain to buy a copy of the extremely well-designed catalogue (otherwise all my hard work would be in vain).

I don't know yet what he's showing there, but I'm sure there'll be something amazing from Taslim Martin, who I've told you about before. It's a sign (and a jolly good one) that the shape of things is beginning to get some really meaty media exposure, not least of which is a great feature on Taslim in the latest issue of Crafts magazine. And make sure you watch the video on that link. Pay very special attention and you might even see my feet entering stage left at 4 minutes, 14 seconds:

27 July 2010

I have told you before (severaltimes, infact) that I've been working on an on-going project called the shape of things, for which I'm designing the exhibition catalogues. The current exhibition is now on at Touchstones, Rochdale and features the work of Tanvi Kant and Taslim Martin. I've just been sorting out some images for press purposes, including these incredibly beautiful details of Tanvi's work. Rather than keep them all to myself, I thought I'd share them with you. Enjoy.

16 June 2010

If you're a UK-based designer and are reading this, then you may recall the cover of Design Week a couple of weeks back which featured a sculpted head. Well, I can now reveal to you exactly where that head lives when he's not adorning front covers, or featuring in exhibitions. It's here:

There he is on the right, in a photograph that I took only yesterday.

Now I have to explain that I have some unwritten rules about what goes onto this blog: and for a long time, one of those rules was never to mention my day job. By which I mean that I have refrained from talking about whatever I'm working on at any particular time. It wasn't a rule that I imposed from the start, but one that emerged a few months in when I managed to upset someone. And that was because I'd made what I thought was an innocent comment about the decision-making process behind the front cover for a book. That experience did teach me something: and that was to keep client relationships to myself.

But it also led to a situation of 'once bitten, twice shy': because there's one particular project that I'm involved in that would really benefit from wider exposure. And in a way, all of those involved have a duty to spread the message. Which I've begunto do. The project is the shape of things, for which I'm designing the exhibition catalogues (or, to be more precise, legacy publications). And I wish I'd made more mention of it earlier, but that's with the benefit of hindsight. Let's see how we get on in the future - and hope that I don't upset anyone else in the process.

Anyway, back to heads. For the chap on the front cover of that Design Week was sculpted by Taslim Martin, who's just been declared as being one of 2010's Jerwood Contemporary Makers. And Taslim is one of the artists (along with Tanvi Kant) who will be showing in the next project exhibition at Touchstones in Rochdale next month. Which is the reason why I dropped by Taslim's studio yesterday. And here he is sculpting another head:

I love these these images. Not because I took them (and, yes, I know, they're not great photographs). But it's the expressions: as if the head and Taslim are sizing each other up and trying to figure out which one them is going to win.

But don't let this lead you to thinking that Taslim only sculpts heads. Oh no, there's an awful lot more going on in his head than that. Some of which I hope I can show you in the weeks ahead.

21 April 2010

I told you a couple of weeks ago about the catalogue(s) that I'd designed for the exhibition that's just finished at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery. Well the time has come to move on to the next exhibition in the shape of things series: Earth|Atmosphere at Bilston Craft Gallery, and showcasing the work of ceramicist Halima Cassell and textile artist Seiko Kinoshita. And I've gotten to design each of them a catalogue with no text on either the front or back covers. In fact that's not quite true, because the two catalogues will be held together with a 'wrap band': and that's where the titles will be. Maybe when they're printed I'll take a photograph and show you how that looks.

In the meantime, though, let me show you the centre spreads - because, even though I say so myself, I think they're really rather wonderful. This one shows two of Halima's carved pieces in progress (prior to firing) with clay sourced from Belgium:

And these fabulous details from Seiko's pieces: A Walk in the Rain and One Sunny Day:

As usual, I'm helped out enormously by some truly great photography - this time from Chris Smart.

The exhibition is on from 1 May through to 10 July: if you get the chance, do go along (if you know where IKEA Birmingham is, then you're almost there).

31 March 2010

I'm not in the habit of mentioning my own work here: it's not really the reason why I blog. But this catalogue is a little bit special (or perhaps, to be more precise, it should be these catalogues). It's one of those where there are two front covers, and two separate catalogues that meet in the middle on the centre spread, if you see what I mean? So one of those covers really ought to be upside down, I suppose.

It's the first time in my career that I've designed one of those - and in this case the solution is entirely appropriate, since the catalogue(s) accompany a single exhibition by two artists: Alinah Azadeh and Rosa Nguyen. It's part of an initiative called the shape of things, and is currently showing at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery. It's been on for a while and it's had thousands and thousands of visitors. Which is no surprise, since it's one of those that's not to be missed, if you can help it. It's on until 18 April - so if you can get yourself down to Bristol before then, do pop along. And if you do, do buy the catalogue(s) - it really is rather good (even though I say so myself).

It's helped, of course, by some really stunning photography by Xavier Young.

I'd remembered reading reviews a month or so ago, so I had a visual recognition of what this installation was about. But nothing more. So the sheer scale of this work came as something of a shock. But the biggest shock was the soundtrack, which turned this vast building (and we're talking about the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern multiplied several times) into the most claustrophobic space imaginable. That's very difficult to describe in words (well, for me at least), so if you've got the time do listen to Adrian Searle's audio review. It will give you some sense of what being inside that space feels like. And here are some more pictures:

Boltanski is right when he says "The visitor will not be before an artwork, he will be in an artwork…". And you can see that in these pictures, can't you?

But what does it mean? Well, for me it was a comment upon the holocaust, and of man's inhumanity to man. Your interpretation (should you go, or if you've been), may be different. Adrian Searle, for instance, says that it's reflecting upon the fact that no one ever reaches heaven. But I don't think the precise interpretation is that relevant: what's important is that you allow yourself to be moved. Admittedly that's pretty hard to avoid.

There's a connection, though, between this and a private view that I attended on Friday evening. And the connection is...

...textiles.

Because I'm involved in a project called the shape of things, and Friday saw the opening of an exhibition featuring the work of Rosa Nguyen and Alinah Azadeh at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery. I'll tell you more about that, and about Rosa and Alinah, another time. But there are direct parallels to be drawn between the work of Botanski and Alinah, both in their subject matter, the conceptual approach to expressing that subject through artistic endeavour, and the materials used in creating their separate installations. The root of Alinah's piece lies in the Asian tsunami of 2004 in which her mother died - and the works on display (The Gifts 1-99 and The Gifts) arise from Alinah's quest to give expression to her grief: you can read a pretty good review from the Bristol Evening News. Now listen again to Adrian Searle's audio review and you will hear him describe how visitors to Monumenta move around the space as though they were looking for lost relatives in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Yet you'll probably come away from Botanski's work feeling in some way dispirited, whilst Alinah's will uplift you - there's no doubt about that, as you can see from Gift No. 159 (Lili's Camera):